[300612.EN.SEA] Drewry, World Container Index Study Offers Guide To Index-linked Contracts

DREWRY, the London maritime research consultancy, and the World Container Index (WCI), have published a guide on how index-linked contracts work, given that they have become widely adopted in the container shipping industry over the past two years.

The study, which can be downloaded from Drewry's website, examines the causes of recent container freight rate volatility and how index-linked contracts can mitigate impacts of instability. It explains how these new contracting arrangements work with reference to current models in use and summarises the extent of industry adoption thus far, a jointly issued statement said.

According to Drewry's freight rate research manager Martin Dixon, its paper on index-linked contracts "lifts the veil on a much misunderstood subject that has the potential to transform the way in which container shipping is contracted".

Persistent freight rate volatility is said to be forcing the container shipping industry to consider alternative forms of shipper-carrier contracting arrangements that enable the contract rate to vary relative to an external index. Index-linked contracts are a response to the failure of traditional fixed-rate forms of contracting to provide the necessary space, volume and price protections.

"Freight rate volatility will continue to be a feature of container shipping for some time to come," Mr Dixon warned.

Drewry researchers maintain that enabling the contract rate to vary relative to an external index serves to reduce any possible divergence between contract and spot rates. Meanwhile, the resultant exposure to wider market volatility can be mitigated through the application of dampeners, floor and ceiling limits or hedging.

The paper goes on to explain that index-linked contracts bring other benefits, such as reduced shipper tender costs and carrier cost of sale.

Adoption is growing rapidly. In May, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) confirmed that 61 index-linked contracts covering US trades had been filed with the organisation in 2012. Drewry estimates that 50 index-linked contracts have been signed on the Asia-Europe trade so far this year.

"It is quite conceivable that by 2020 the vast majority of containerised ocean freight will be transacted on the basis of index-linked contracts," added Richard Heath, director of the World Container Index. "Contracts will be negotiated on the basis of discounts or premiums to benchmark indices, relative to service level needs."

The WCI is a 50-50 joint venture between Drewry and Cleartrade Exchange, an electronic marketplace for OTC freight and commodity swaps. The WCI is a global index, which can be used by physical and derivative market participants to manage freight risk.

Source, HKSG, 28.06.12.

[300612.ID.SEA] Muatan Kontainer : Ketersediaan Kapal Berlebih, Tarif Turun 30%-40%

JAKARTA: Tarif angkut kontainer atau freight untuk sejumlah rute domestik dari Pelabuhan Tanjung Priok Jakarta maupun  sebaliknya saat ini cederung turun 30%-40% dibanding tahun lalu. Namun untuk sejumlah rute lainnya tergolong stabil.

Achyar Abdul Mutholib, Sekretaris Indonesian National Shipoeners Association (INSA) Jaya, mengatakan  tertekannya freight kontainer domestik tersebut dipicu tidak seimbangnya supply and demand.

“Biasanya kapal lebih banyak  dibanding tahun 2011 ke rute-rute itu, sehingga tarif angkut bersaing ketat dan cenderung turun,” ujarnya kepada Bisnis hari ini, Kamis (28/6/2012).

Dia mengatakan, kendati volume muatan domestik bertambah,  jumlah kapal dan kapasitas angkut kapal juga semakin besar pada rute-rute tertentu sehingga persaingan tarif tidak bisa dihindari dan cenderung freight tertekan.

Direktur Komersial PT Pelayaran Tempuran Emas Tbk (Temas) Teddy Arief mengatakan, kecenderungan freight domestik yang mengalami penurunan biasanya terjadi di rute gemuk, seperti Tanjung Priok-Belawan, Tanjung Priok-Makassar, Tanjung Priok-Batam, Tanjung Priok-Pekanbaru, dan Tanjung Priok-Tanjung Perak Surabaya.

Selain akibat faktor supply and demand, kata dia, juga dipengaruhi semakin banyaknya operator di rute gemuk yang menambah ukuran/kapasitas ruang kapalnya.

"Umumnya kapasitas kapal dinaikkan dari sebelumnya rata-rata 600 TEUs, kini menjadi 1.000 TEUs, bahkan lebih,”ujarnya kepada Bisnis.

Dia mencontohkan, untuk freight  rute Tanjung Priok Jakarta-Belawan Medan yang sebelumnya Rp.4,5 juta/TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) kini hanya berkisar Rp.2,5 juta s/d Rp.3 juta/TEUs, atau turun 30%-40%. Rute Tanjung Priok-Makassar yang sebelumnya Rp.4,5 juta/TEUs saat ini hanya Rp 3 juta/TEUs.

Begitupun dengan rute Tanjung Priok-Batam yang sebelumnya Rp.4,5 juta/TEUs saat ini Rp.Rp.3 juta/TEUs, sedangkan rute Tanjung Priok-Pekanbaru yang sebelumnya Rp.5 juta/TEUs saat ini Rp.Rp.3,5 juta/TEUs. Hal yang sama terjadi untuk rute Tanjung Priok-Tanjung Perak Surabaya jika sebelumnya Rp.4 juta/TEUs kini hanya Rp.2,5 juta–Rp.3 juta/TEUs.

“Bahkan penurunan freight domestik untuk rute ke Belawan dan Makassar sudah terjadi hampir satu tahun terakhir, karena ketatnya persaingan operator di rute tersebut,” paparnya.

Operator di rute gemuk seperti Tanjung Priok-Belawan, saat ini di geluti al; Meratus, Tanto Intim Line, Temas Line, SPIL, Caraka Tirta Perkasa, dan Baruna. (k1/sut)

Sumber : Bisnis Indonesia, 28.06.12.

[290612.EN.SEA] Anti-piracy Satellite System Launched With Refined Remote Tracking

ARIZONA-based Applied Satellite Engineering (ASE) and Australia's Beam Communications have launched a new range of anti-piracy systems to be used with its Iridium or Inmarsat satellite products.

Its citadel, or "safe room", provides iridium voice communication and GPS reporting and can e installed anywhere on the ship. It uses ASE Comcenter Outdoor Solution in a discreet enclosure such as the ship's funnel to meet antenna distance problems, reports Digital Ship.

An additional phone can be installed on the bridge from the same system, said a statement from ASE. The benefits of the remote polling allows shipowners to know its vessel's position at set time intervals particularly when under attack and the Automatic Identification System (AIS) is turned off to avoid attack.

ASE operations head Ken Coffey said its citadel takes the reporting burden off crews during stressful situations such as a pirate attack. "Crews today are bogged down with so many reporting responsibilities. Enabling a shipping office to pull coordinates whenever they need them, helps make operations more efficient, cuts costs and improve crew safety."

Australian competitor, Beam Communications, has launched two new anti-piracy products to provide uninterrupted communication during pirate attack of the PotsDock Extreme Covert Piracy Solution and the Beam Covert Antenna System using Iridium and Inmarsat networks respectively.

The PotsDock provides an Iridium Extreme satellite handset and a Beam Covert Antenna system for use in a safe room or citadel. The Inmarsat-based system operates with the Inmarsat FleetPhone service, integrated into Beam's new Oceana 800 Covert Piracy Solution. Again, the phone is to be placed within a citadel, and connected to a Beam-designed antenna intended for covert placement.

The system ensures that essential communications on board the ship, such as the ability to alert authorities in the event of attack, can be maintained even if all power or communication equipment has been cut off or destroyed by attackers.

Its Oceana 800 Piracy Solution operates with the Inmarsat FleetPhone service and offers some reassurance to captains and crews facing the threat of piracy, said Immarsat chief Peter Blackhurst. "As with maritime safety, communications during a piracy situation can be a lifeline," he added.

Source : HKSG.

[290612.ID.SEA] Tambah Armada, Tempuran Mas Siapkan Rp445 Miliar

JAKARTA: Emiten penyedia jasa pengangkutan laut, PT Pelayaran Tempuran Emas Tbk, menetapkan capital expenditure (capex) sebesar  Rp445 miliar tahun ini.

Belanja modal tersebut akan digunakan untuk membeli tiga kapal berstatus used dan alat penunjang operasional perseroan yang rencananya akan direalisasikan pada semester dua mendatang.

Menurut Corporate Secretary sekaligus Direktur Keuangan Pelayaran Tempuran Emas, Ferdy Suwandi, tiga kapal itu merupakan bagian dari total tujuh kapal yang akan dibeli perseroan pada 2012.

"Sebanyak tujuh kapal terdiri dari tiga kapal berstatus used dan empat kapal baru. Pembelian kapal ini dilakukan sebagai rencana prorgam peremajaan kapal karena kapal perseroan rata-rata berusia di atas 30 tahun," katanya, Jumat (29/6).

Di sisi lain, sebanyak delapan kapal tua perseroan telah dijual pada 2011 karena dianggap membebani biaya operasional. Kapal-kapal tua, lanjut Ferdy, memiliki konsumsi bahan bakar lebih tinggi alias boros.

"Dana penjualan yang diperoleh, sekitar Rp133 miliar digunakan untuk membantu pendanaan program peremajaan kapal," lanjutnya.

Sementara sisa pendanaan capex diperoleh dari kas internal dan pinjaman bank. Perseroan sendiri saat ini sudah mendapat lampu hijau dari beberapa perbankan untuk mendapatkan pinjaman.

Ferdy menuturkan, dana dari pinjaman perbankan ini memiliki porsi 70% hingga 80% dari total capex, atau sebesar Rp311,5 miliar hingga Rp356 miliar.

Adapun rencana penjualan kapal tua 2012 sebanyak lima kapal dengan total penjualan yang diharapkan mencapai Rp40 miliar hingga Rp50 miliar. Hingga semester pertama, perseroan sudah menjual dua kapal dan tiga sisanya akan dijual pada semester dua.

Ke depan, emiten berkode saham TMAS ini akan terus melanjutkan peremajaan kapal-kapal yang berumur di atas 30 tahun secara bertahap. Saat ini perseroan memilik 19 armada yang rata-rata berusia sekitar 16 tahun.

"Perkembangan ekonomi Indonesia akan berdampak langsung terhadap bisnis pelayaran karena kebutuhan alat transportasi, khusunya laut meningkat," tuturnya. (arh)

Sumber : Bisnis Indonesia, 29.06.12.